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Fool’s Love: Episode 2 Recap

An episode that moves this quickly suggests that some time jumping is going to occur because it can’t be happily ever after too fast! We finally meet Im Seulong‘s character, and it’s surely interesting to see how this grumpy lawyer is going to fit into the scheme of things. So far… he doesn’t do much.

Ho Goo makes the momentous decision to go to the beach with Do Hee, and he quickly buys the last ticket for the bus to Yeosu.

Meanwhile, Ho Kyung is telling Chung Jae that if a guy goes to the beach with a girl, it’s a definite win. Her parents confirm this, as the mother Ok Ryung totally snagged the dad Yong Moo in this way. Just then Ho Kyung gets the fated call from Ho Goo: he’s not coming home tonight! A quick call to her brother (while he is hyperventilating in the bathroom about being alone with the girl of his dreams) confirms her suspicions: he’s with a girl.

She decides to give him some advice – mainly, one rule of thumb. Don’t do anything. If he wants to do something, he should just spend a lot of money. She later adds a couple more rules: do things for the girl rather than nag her or talk her ear off, and make sure she’s never bored. Ho Goo’s takes his sister’s advice to heart and withdraws 300,000 won – almost his entire life savings.

They sit next to each other on the bus, and he awkwardly tries to help put her seatbelt on while trying to follow the first rule – but it turns out he was giving her his seatbelt. He then shares earphones with her so they can listen to music, which works out perfectly.

Do Hee dozes off, and unfortunately when she wakes up it’s not Ho Goo next to her but a mother with an infant. He had switched seats with the mother so that she could have a more comfortable spot. Do Hee’s actually kind of touched that he would do something like that. When they reach Yeosu, the mother thanks them and notes the similarity between Do Hee and “the famous swimmer Do Hee who always wins second place.” She starts chattering on about how she knows Do Hee and finally Ho Goo shoos her away by reminding her of her child. He picks up the mother’s wallet, who drops it, and hands it off to her as she leaves.

They catch a cab, and the driver is giddy with the thought that he’s got two young lovers in his car. It’s cute how everyone assumes they’re a couple, and a little sad each time Ho Goo awkwardly points out that they’re not. At least no one believes him, so yay! Unfortunately as the cab fare ticks up, Ho Goo realizes belatedly that his wallet is missing. It was that mother! She had actually pickpocketed him at the station! Do Hee reaches for her wallet, much to Ho Goo’s chagrin, only to realize that she had been pickpocketed too!

The driver unceremoniously dumps them out of his car in the middle of a bridge and leaves them to walk the rest of their way.

Meanwhile, Ho Goo’s drunk classmates are wondering where on earth he went to, and why their class president (Byun Kang Chul, of course) isn’t around. Turns out he’s busy lawyer-ing – meaning shutting his room, blasting classical music, and typing away. His assistant, In Gi, falls asleep waiting to brief him on his messages and calls but she finally gets fed up and barges right in. She demands to know what he wants to do about his mail, his messages from his clients, and the message from his ex-girlfriend. Well, he’s not interested in the reunion, in the mail, and in Do Hee’s message.

In Gi wonders why on earth Kang Chul would not get back together with his girlfriend, whom she deemed to be quite pretty. We get a flashback of how Do Hee was in school. During gym time everyone joined in for a game of co-ed kickball. Ho Goo was on Do Hee’s team, and he admired her from afar. Everyone thought she was just a pretty girl until she ended up getting every player out on the opposing team. So okay, she’s pretty and athletic. When it came time for her team to be at bat, so to speak, she shows off her competitive side. Not only is she really good at kickball, but she bosses her teammates around like no other and gets pissed off when they fail at securing a point or running from base to base.

Eventually she kicks a home run and starts running joyously, unzipping her sweater to reveal her sports bra. Everyone – including the girls – stare in shock. “What, haven’t you all seen a sports bra before?” she asks innocently, before zipping it back up. Kang Chul didn’t play kickball with them, but he did watch her. With her competitive spirit, it’s no wonder he thought she was scary.

Ho Goo on the other hand thought she was beautiful, and he even remembers things like her problems with constipation from back in school. He also thinks of her as a friend first rather than a star athlete. Despite the compliment, Do Hee forces Ho Goo to continue walking with her instead of just sitting down and hanging out. She’s still annoyed that he lost his wallet, and even more shocked that he lost so much money.

They walk up a large hill and end up at the top overlooking the bridge and a really nice monument. They then see this cute high school couple that had seemed really innocent and sweet from afar, but are actually rude and smoke and drink while underage. Do Hee immediately gets up on their business and starts scolding them about proper manners. It’s pretty amusing to see her and Min Do Hee (cameoing as a student) cursing each other out, and then Ho Goo helplessly trying to stop the fight but getting pushed out of the way.

The fight is just a ruse for Do Hee (and I mean UEE’s character) to steal their snacks, alcohol, and cigarettes. As soon as the students recognize her, Ho Goo immediately distracts them by pointing out that Seo Taiji is there and then running away with Do Hee. The punch line is that the students are too young to know who Seo Taiji is.

They finally reach the beach, and they build a tiny castle fort for them to sit in. Do Hee wants to try soju, as she’s never drunk before in her life. He pours her a capful, and Do Hee only manages to down two sips before she gets crazy drunk, running around in the sand and rushing into the sea. Ho Goo does his best to keep her in line, and it’s more exhausting for him to catch up to her than to drink.

Do Hee complains about the “little thing” in her stomach, and Ho Goo, quite innocently, thinks that she’s been suffering from constipation all night. She cries out to the world that she wants “the thing” taken away from her body because she’s scared, and Ho Goo comforts her all night, hugging her until her tears stop flowing.

Eventually Do Hee calms down, and Ho Goo wipes away her tears. Sensing the moment, he swoops in for a kiss. YAY FOR BRAVE HO GOO! Do Hee is surprised, but she ends up kissing him right back. YAY!!!

That morning, Do Hee gets money from her coach to send Ho Goo back to Seoul on the train. She decides to stay behind as she needs to get surgery for her hemorrhoids, that “thing” that’s inside her body. Good ol’ Ho Goo to believe her lie, though he has no reason to doubt her. He comforts her that everything will turn out okay, and Do Hee hands him her silver medal. They make a promise with each other: come Christmas they will meet again. She will return the comic books she borrowed, and he can return her medal. Ho Goo is absolutely excited – the fact that they’re meeting in Christmas suggests that something romantic might be in store for him and he’ll have a future with Do Hee!

After sending Ho Goo off, Do Hee spots the mother with the infant again, stealing from other unsuspecting passengers. She catches her in the bathroom and threatens to call the cops unless she returns the 300 thousand won she stole from Ho Goo. The mother has no regrets though, as she’s doing anything she can to support her family. “Do you know what’s really shameful? Abandoning your baby.” The words hit home, but Do Hee brushes it off as best she can.

Ho Goo returns home to see a huge banner hung up outside his door congratulating him on his first night out. He returns to work, where his friends are purposely ignoring him for his abandoning them the night before. Ho Goo merely says, “I spent the night out with a woman” to get their attention back on him. They treat him to lunch as he shares every detail of his kiss with a mysterious woman he won’t name. It’s really hilarious how his friends react to the kiss, eating up every word and yet staring at him jealously.

Back in Yeosu, Do Hee visits a doctor who specializes in abortions… coincidentally named Seo Taiji. He notes that she’s already 13 weeks along so if she wants to get rid of it, she needs to do it now. Do Hee makes the mistake of looking at the ultrasound monitor and seeing how small the baby is. Instead of telling him when she wants to get the surgery done, Do Hee admits that she drank two sips of soju the night before.

Months pass, and Ho Goo wonders about how Do Hee’s doing. His texts go unanswered, and he has no idea how else to reach her. He worries that something could have happened to her during surgery, but when he realizes it’s a simple surgery that even his own sister got, he becomes even more perplexed as to why she’s gone radio silent.

He meets with her coach to repay the train fare from months ago, and the coach is equally in the dark about where Do Hee is. When the coach finds out that Ho Goo was “that friend” who had gone with her to Yeosu so many nights before, he discourages Ho Goo from thinking of starting a romance with Do Hee. It’s going to be physically impossible, especially since she’s considered a national (silver) treasure!

Ho Goo rides the train home, feeling even more dejected and forced to face the reality that he could never have a relationship with a star athlete. He gets up when he notices a pregnant woman get on the train, and when she drops her bag, he quickly helps her pick up her stuff. He sees that she has a comic book – the comic book he lent out to Do Hee.

He looks up at the pregnant girl’s partly covered face. It’s Do Hee!

Comments:

It is starting to feel more and more impossible that the baby daddy is Kang Chul, especially since it seems like he hasn’t been interested in Do Hee for a while. I wonder how differently the story would have been if she got an abortion, but it’s even more fun now to see her pregnant. How is she going to deal with it when she sees everyone from her past again!?

I enjoyed the cameos from Min Do Hee, Lee Sung Min in episode 1 (I think recurring a Misaeng character), and Jang Young Nam as the mother. They technically could have been inconsequential appearances, but Jang Young Nam’s cameo really helped move the story along because she gave Do Hee something to think about. What is worse: to make a sketchy way of living just to support a child, or to abandon it? The drama could have gotten into a gnarly territory on the topic of abortion, but it sidesteps it by letting Do Hee keep the child.

I also really loved how everyone around Ho Goo makes a big deal about his first night out with a woman. I would probably do that too if he were my brother. Now if only everyone could just think the child is his, what fun that would be!